Saudi Arabia is on a beheading mania. According to Amnesty International, Saudi regime has executed more than 26 people in the last month.

14 young men are to be beheaded based on various crimes charged against them by Saudi Arabia. They are charged with offences like “armed rebellion against the ruler”, “participating in shooting at security personnel, security vehicles”, “preparing and using Molotov Cocktail bombs”, “theft and armed robbery” and “inciting chaos, organizing and participating in riots.”

These men have been in custody longer than usual before their trial, and all declared in the court that they were tortured in detention to confess to crimes they did not commit.

But the Supreme Court decision reaffirmed the lower Specialized Criminal Court’s decision to behead them all. The controversial SCC has been utilized, for years now, by the Saudi regime to put down the dissidents.

The 17-year-old Mujtaba’a al-Sweikat was sentenced to death for taking part in pro-democracy rallies. He was accepted to the Western Michigan University, 5 years ago, but was arrested in airport, just as about to take off to US. Al-Sweikat was recently moved from Dammam to the capital city of Riyadh where the beheadings take place in open squares of the city and the decapitated bodies remain for the people to see.

“Saudi Arabia’s threat to behead its own citizens for attending an anti-government protest is an unthinkable and despicable violation of international law and basic humanity” said AFT President Randi Weingarten.

Munir al-Adam, 23 years old, similarly was arrested for protesting against the monarchy last year. Despite having medical records stating Munir has disabilities from a childhood incident, he was beaten and tortured until losing his hearing ability in one ear, and then the SCC sentenced him to death on the basis of a forced confession.

Despite all the human rights violations and executions in Saudi Arabia, this violent kingdom remains one of the closest allies of the United States. In Donald Trump’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia, he faced criticism after his speech, that he did not emphasize human rights. Instead he focused his speech against “Islamist Terrorism”.

“Instead, we are here to offer partnership, based on shared interests and values, to pursue a better future for us all” said the oddly cautious Trump. He also added: “We must seek partners, not perfection, and to make allies of all who share our goals.”